,Uo2- 


Our  Island  Problems 


OUR    ISLAND    PROBLEMS. 

KEEP    THEM  ALL. 


The  current  of  a  nation's  history  is  marked  by  curious  and  uncertain 
rates  of  progress.  At  times  it  rolls  along  smoothly  and  without  interrup- 
tion for  a  generation.  Again,  without  apparent  warning,  the  stream  of 
history  breaks  into  a  tempestuous  flood.  Old  ways  are  obliterated,  old 
landmarks  are  ruthlessly  torn  from  their  ancient  moorings  and  swept 
away  never  to  be  seen  again  of  men.  When  the  tide  recedes,  the  citizen 
gropes  in  vain  for  the  cherished  objects  which  he  and  his  ancestors  had 
venerated  in  the  past. 

In  such  manner  has  the  swift  progress  of  history  during  the  past  twelve 
months  swept  away  absolutely  and  beyond  recovery  many  time-honored 
ideals  of  political  life  and  action  once  held  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  Overwhelmed  and  bewildered  by  the  splendid  progress  of  the 
Spanish  war,  the  citizen  suddenly  finds  himself  face  to  face  with  new 
aspects  of  political  life  and  action  that  this  contest  has  pressed  immedi- 
ately to  the  front. 

In  the  solution  of  new  and  weighty  questions  of  the  hour,  the  citizen 
can  no  longer  trust  to  the  traditions  of  the  past.  He  must  take  new  bear- 
ings in  view  of  the  new  political   landscape  in  which  he  finds  himself. 

In  making  the  decision  as  to  our  Colonial  Policy  he  must  consider  not 
the  traditions  of  the  past,  but  the  history  of  the  future. 

In  what  condition  does  the  Nation  and  the  individual  find  itself  to 
decide  upon  these  momentous  questions  ? 

OUR.  PHYSICAL  SUPREMACY. 

Tlie  American  citizen  finds  himself  today  a  member  of  a  nation  which 
has  developed  naturally,  symmetrically  and  enormously  as  race  inherit- 
ance and  a  superb  physical  environment  has  dictated  from  the  first.  In 
mere  material  progress  the  advance  of  the  Nation  has  far  exceeded  the 
wildest  dreams  that  might  have  been  based  upon  the  most  extravagant 
standards  of  the  past.  In  a  single  century  of  national  existence  the  Na- 
tion has  covered  practically  the  same  ground  that  other  peoples  have 
painfully  traversed  in  the  progress  of  a  thousand  vcar.; 


Without  undue  pride,  the  American  people  should  today  clearly  lealize 
that  the  United  States  is  far  and  away  the  most  powerful  nation  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  seen. 

In  population,  in  intelligence,  in  tlie  accumulated  wealth,  which  makes 
for  success  in  peace  or  war,  this  nation  far  outranks  in  efftctixe  power 
any  single  nation  of  the  ancient  or  modern  world.  The  mere  existence 
of  70,000,000  intelligent  people,  living  harmoniously  under  one  ac- 
cepted government;  seated  securely  in  the  single  largest  area  of  fertile 
land  upon  the  globe;  of  a  blood  either  inherited  or  assimilated,  euTbody- 
ino"  the  best  virtues  of  a  race  that  has  made  histor}'  for  a  thousand  years; 
safe  from  all  attack;  al)undantly  prolilic;  pacific  by  disposition,  yet  of 
abounding  self-respect — these  and  other  characteristics  of  this  people 
present  a  spectacle  of  national  unit}'  and  power  that  should  make 
every  American  citizen  j^roud  of  his  race  and  land. 

It  sliould  fill  him  with  a  just  sense  of  the  responsil)ility  resting  upon 
him  as  a  member  of  the  race  that  has  heretofore,  and  must  hereafter, 
shape  the  history  of  the  world. 

Nor  alone  in  intellectual  and  material  strength  does  this  nation  outrank 
any  Civilization  of  past  or  present  times.  Its  moral  strength  is  of  a  stamp 
and  vigor  that  renders  douI:)ly  effective  tiit;  resources  of  land  and  intellect. 

This  combination  of  physical  resources,  vast  population  and  moral 
vigor,  united  in  a  new  race  whose  veins  are  filled  with  clean,  fresh  blood 
— unlike  the  Latin  peoples  now  tottering  to  the  grave — ])reBent  a  pheno- 
menon which  the  worn  peoples  and  tyrannical  governments  of  the  Euro- 
pean continent  will  do  well  to  consider  in  tlieir  lawless  and  arbitrary 
division  of  the  Eastern  world. 

With  a  full  knowledge  of  our  preponderance;  with  a  desire  to  mould 
our  polic)'  according  to  what  has  been  considered  right  and  moral  among 
the  best  Civilizations  of  the  past;  above  all,  with  a  firm  faith  in  the  Ger- 
man-Anglo-vSaxon  Civilization  as  representing  the  liest  conception  of  Gov- 
ernment and  Morals  that  history  presents— with  these  things  in  view 
should  the  American  citizen  approach  the  dul}  of  the  hour. 

OUR  HISTORIC  VIEWS  OF  AMERICAN  DESTINY. 

A  people  that  has  hitherto  attended  strictly  to  its  own  affairs,  and 
studiously  remained  within  the  limits  of  its  own  continents,  the  United 
States  is  today  called  upon  to  an-ange  the  destinies  of  three  dif- 
ferent peoples  in  three  different  (juarters  of  the  globe.  Happy,  for  an 
entire  centur\',  in  the  universal  Ijelief  that  that  the  nation  would  never 
extend  its  boundaries  l)e3'ond  its  own  continent,  the  United  States  finds 


itself  to-da}'  the  embarrassed  owner  of  colonies  of  whose  acquisition  its 
people  had  never  dreamed. 

Foreign  nations,  judging  our  Civilization  by  its  own,  can  never  be  con- 
vinced that  we  had  not  cleverly  planned  the  acquisition  of  these  islands 
bevond  the  sea.  Happily,  our  own  prepon  derance  and  the  knowledge 
of  our  own  integrity  may  render  us  totally  indifferent  to  what  these  for- 
eign nations  think  or  do  not  think. 

In  solving  the  problem  of  our  colonial  doniains,  we  are  accountable  to 
ourselves  alone. 

HAWAII. 

Proceeding  in  due  order,  it  may  be  said  that  our  first  foundling  was 
clearly  a  case  of  Manifest  Destiny,  long  thwarted  in  her  efforts.  The 
Hawaiian  civilization  of  today  is  a  product  of  American  hand  and  brain 
that  has  been  at  work  in  this  outlying  island  for  fifty  years.  The  trade 
of  Hawaii  is  largely  American.  Her  industries,  material  resources  and 
accumulated  wealth  are  almost  wholly  the  result  of  American  enterprise. 
But  for  American  civilization  Hawaii  would  be  to-day  a  howling  canni- 
balistic isle,  or  a  European  non-productive  colony,  under  the  iron  heel  of 
military  law. 

Hawaii  is  the  key  which,  in  the  hands  of  any  other  nation,  may  at  any 
time  unlock  the  door  to  our  Pacific  coast.  By  every  law  of  trade;  by 
every  demand  of  national  safety;  by  every  behest  of  Civilization  and  good 
government,  this  island  should  have  been  ours  not  five,  but  fifty  years 
ago.  That  this  splendid  possession  has  now  dropped  into  our  lap— not  in 
its  crude  immaturity — but  as  a  fully  perfected  fruit,  is  not  alone  a  tribute 
to  the  manifest  destiny  of  our  race.  It  happily  removes  the  Hawaiian 
question  from  the  realm  of  controversy.  It  is  a  fact  accomplished  and  so 
accomplished  that  the  most  bitter  foreign  critics  cannot  gainsay  our 
rights. 

CUBA  AND  PORTO  RICO. 

By  the  same  considerations  that  have  finally'made  Hawaii  a  part  of  the 
I'nited  States,  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  should  likewise  have  been  ours  half 
a  century  ago.  That  the  inevitable  destiny  of  our  race  has  likewise  cast 
these  foundlings  into  our  lap,  almost  without  a  struggle,  is  another  proof 
that  Mediaeval  bigotry  and  misrule  shall  not  dominate  the  Western  world. 
The  future  of  these  isles  should  be  burdened  with  no  great  problems. 
Porto  Rico  is  now  a  component  portion  of  the  United  States.  It  is  an 
island  comparatively  small,  accessible  and  well  supplied  with  military 
roads.      There  should  l^e  nothing  serious  to  encounter  beyond  the  inevit- 


able  friction  that  must  follow  the  displacement  of  a  semi-barbarous  rule 
bv  civilized  forms  of  government.  Keep  out  the  politicians  and  the 
carpet-baggers;  give  the  island  an  economic  industrial  government  and 
'■Lwill  speedilv  merge  into  the  ))ody  of  the  great  repuljlic. 

The  future  of  Cuba  must  differ  somewhat  from  that  of  Porto  Rico.  In  a 
moment  of  what  now  seems  ill-gotten  generosity,  the  nation  pledged  the 
world  Cuba  should  be  given  self  government  of  her  own.  The  history  of 
the  past  six  months  indicates  too  clearly  that  this  isle  is  not  yet  ripe  for 
absolute  self-control  and  that  her  future  cannot  be  safely  placed  at  once 
in  the  keeping  of  her  own  inexperienced  people.  She  must  be  slowly 
schooled  to  self-control,  and  must  then  b^  given  a  fair  opportunity  to 
show  her  capacity  for  self-rule  under  .Vmericau  supervision. 

We  may  give  Cuba  the  opportunity  to  govern  herself  hut  can  we 
make  the  men  fit  to  govern  out  of  vSpanish  stock  ? 

The  ultimate  future  of  this  isle  is  foreordained.  She  will  be  given  her 
chance  to  redeem  herself.  She  will  probably  fail,  as  has  almost  every 
other  Spanish-.lmerican  people  of  the  western  hemisphere. 

Cuba  will  then  be  merged  into  the  United  States,  and  her  people  will 
gradually  melt  into  the  Anglo-Saxon  civilization,  as  did  their  kindred 
people  in  the  Floridas,  Texas  and  I^ouisiana. 

THE  PHILIPPINES. 

The  final  parting  of  the  roads  comes  upon  the  (juestiou  of  the  Philip- 
pines. The  other  islands  were  component  portions  of  North  America, 
but  temporarily  detached.  The  Philippines  bring  us  into  another  hemis- 
phere; throw  us  into  contact  with  questions  and  races,  of  whose  ex- 
istence we  hardl}-  knew  a  year  ago. 

Reducing  the  Philippine  question  to  its  lowest  terms,  its  solution 
becomes  more  plain. 

Prior  to  the  war  these  islands  belonge<l  tu  .Spain. 

Where  did  she  get  them? 

She  discovered  them  some  four  hundred  years  ago,  and  has  since  mis- 
governed them  by  the  sole  right  of  superior  power. 

We  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Manilla,  not  to  secure  these  islands, 
but  to  protect  our  own  Pacific  coast.  The  surrender  of  Manilla  carried 
the  surrender  of  the  islands.,  and  the  close  of  the  war  found  them  in  our 
hands. 

Not  De.sire,  but  Destiny,  lias  thrust  this  burden  on  us. 

The  Philip)nnes  are  now  our  own,  first,  by  the  universal  law  of  war 
which  permits  the  victor  to  absorb  the  spoils  of  the  van(|uished  in  such 
reasonable  amount  as  shall  compensati;  liini   for  injury  done  and  outlay 


made.  This  is  the  lower  law,  accepted  b_v  the  higher  Civilized  Nations 
of  the  contirent.  and  which  none  of  them  have  denied  assent. 

The  Philipines  are  also  ours,  by  that  higher  law,  which  justices  an 
advanced  Civilization  in  crushing  a  despotic  and  vicious  government  and 
bestowing  upon  a  suffering  people  the  right  to  live  a  free  and  decent  life. 

They  are  ours  b_v  that  inexorable  law  of  nature  that  replaces  the  rack, 
the  tax  collector  and  the  hangman  with  the  schoolhouse,  the  township 
meetinij  and  the  Law. 


IS  EXPANSION  UNCONSTITUTIONAL? 

Next  in  order  comes  the  claim  put  forth  by  many  cloistered  and  learned 
folk  that  the  acquisition  of  new  territor}-  is  unconstitutional  and  against 
the  traditions  of  the  United  States. 

Is  this  so,  and  if  so,  what  is  the  basis  for  this  claim!' 

In  the  whole  body  of  the  Constitiition  there  is  no  reference  to  the 
acquisition  of  new  territory.  There  is  nothing  that  can  be  construed  to 
cover  this  contingency. 

The  argument  that  we  cannot,  therefore,  annex  new  territor}-,  has  been 
largely  based  upon  this  lack  of  specific  consent  to  such  expansion.  This 
objection  is  sophistical  and  totally  contrary  to  common  sense. 
The  mere  state  of  Sovereignty  itself  implies  many  acts  and  obli- 
gations not  specified  in  the  Constitution.  They  are  the  natural  attributes 
of  National  Supremacy  and  are  so  manifestly  bound  up  in  the  very  fabric 
of  the  Constitution  that  they  need  no  direct  mandate  in  black  and  white. 

The  Constitution  does  not  specifically  provide  that  we  defend  oursehes 
if  attacked.  Nor  does  the  Constitution,  in  terms,  deny  the  right  of  Seces- 
sion to  a  state  which  no  longer  desires  to  retain  its  place  in  the  national 
union.  Yet  we  have  waged  both  defensive  and  offensive  warfare  when 
common  sense  demanded.  We  fought  the  greatest  war  in  history  to  retain 
states  which  desired  to  secede  yet  no  man  can  point  to  the  constitutional 
mandate  in  black  and  white  which  authorized  the  coercion  of  the  South- 
ern vStates. 

Yet  neither  of  these  acts  of  Sovereignty  was  more  logical  than  is  the 
retention  of  conquered  territory  thrust  upon  us  against  our  will  and  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  cannot  be  abandoned  without  a  distinct  moral 
wrong  against  Progress  and  Civilization. 

Neither  is  there  any  precedent  against  expansion  in  our  written  or 
recorded  law. 

If  so,  where  is  it,  who  wrote  it  and  where  is  it  now  concealed;* 


6 

TRADITIONS  FAVOR  A  WISE  EXPANSION. 

Still  less  ilo  our  alleged  traditions  offer  any  barrier  to  such  wise  and 
necessary  expansions  as  are  vitally  necessary  to  our  national  safety  and 
well  being.  On  the  contrary,  the  history  of  the  United  States  is  but  the 
story  of  successive  expansions,  by  which  the  necessities  of  increasing 
population  has  led  us  to  absorb  inferior  races  and  to  open  new  lands  to 
Industry  and  Civilization.  Our  own  I\nglish  ancestry  lirst  drove  out  the 
Indian,  and  tlien  tlie  Dutch,  and  then  the  French.  The  very  ancestors 
of  these  particular  patriots  who  now  raise  the  cry  of  Imperialism,  were 
the  first  to  drive  the  untutored  savage  out  of  New  England,  with  a 
melancholy,  but  no  less  persistent  zeal. 

From  the  Ijeginning  of  our  national  government  we  have  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity to  extend  our  national  domain.  Thomas  Jefferson,  who  had  nmch 
to  saj-  about  peace  and  various  mixed  theories  of  human  rights,  wasted 
scant  time  when  the  most  favorable  chance  in  history  offered  the  territory 
of  I.ouisiana  to  the  United  States.  Thomas  Jefferson  abandoned  theory 
on  the  spot,  and  for  once  consorted  with  common  sense.  In  spite  of 
frenzied  opposition  he  bought  Louisiana  without  the  consent  of  Congress 
and  upon  his  own  responsibility.  To-day,  the  civilization  of  30,000,000, 
now  resident  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  justify  and  approve  the  wisdom  of 
this  act. 

Without  this  enlightened  purchase  we  should  still  be  a  second  class 
nation,  hemmed  in  by  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic  coast. 
Mexico  or  France  or  Spain  would  have  occupied  all  that  vast  parallelo- 
gram between  New  Orleans,  Lake  Superior,  Oregon  and  California. 

In  1821  we  absorbed  the  Floridas  because  they  had  become  a  common 
nuisance.  They  were  misgoverned  by  Spain  in  the  same  shocking  man- 
ner as  she  has  misgoverned  the  West  Indies  and  the  Philippines.  The 
Floridas  were  a  menace  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the  civilized 
people  who  were  endeavoring  to  live  peacefully  and  decently  by  their 
side.  Andrew  Jackson  wanted  no  rhetoric  on  this  occasion.  He  seized 
the  Floridas,  and  while  we  afterwards  made  payment  for  the  same,  this 
was  done  not  as  a  matter  of  right,  but  as  a  sop  to  the  outraged  dignity  of 
Spain. 

In  1848  we  absorbed  the  best  portion  of  Mexico  because  our  slave- 
holding  rulers  demanded  more  room  to  raise  slaves  and  cotton  and  other 
things.  This  seizure  of  Mexican  territory  was  a  crudely  brutal  act. 
However  base  the  means,  the  final  result  has  been  wholly  desirable.  It 
has  opened  up  to  Civilization  a  region  which  would  otherwise  have 
remained  as  bare  and  j)rofitless  as  most  ol'  Mexico  is  to-day. 


In  1850  we  absorbed  Oregon,  parti}-  because  we  had  discovered  it,  but 
particularly  because  we  needed  it  in  our  onward  progress  to  the  West. 
Xay,  we  were  even  at  the  point  of  war  with  England  because  we  did  not 
at  the  same  time  secure  British  Columbia,  then  a  portion  of  the  Oregon 
territory. 

In  1865  we  took  the  Gads<len  Purchase  to  protect  our  own  frontier. 

In  IS 67  we  took  Alaska  because  it  was  cheap  and  a  bargain  and  its 
purchase  forever  excluded  the  Russian  empire  from  the  American  conti- 
nent. 

So  far  from  our  acquisitions  weakening  the  Republic,  they  have  really 
made  it  what  it  is  to-day.  Nearly  half  of  our  population  is  to-dav  resi- 
dent in  the  acquired  portion  of  the  United  States.  More  than  half  of  our 
natural  resources  and  future  wealth  will  be  found  in  such  portions  as  we 
have  annexed  since  we  became  a  commonwealth.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
history  shows  our  sainted  faithers  even  more  crudel}'  acquisitive  than 
ourselves,  for  they  lived  in  a  day  when  the  strong  invariably  preved 
upon  the  weak  and  nations  seized  whatever  was  unprotected  and  near 
at  hand. 

COMMERCIAL,    STRATEGIC    AND   MORAL   CONSIDERATIONS. 

The  Philipine  question  then  resolves  itself  into  a  discussion  upon  the 
(1 )  Commercial,  (2)  Strategic  and  (3)  Moral  aspects  of  the  case. 

Will  the  accession  of  these  islands  increase  the  general  prosperity  of 
the  United  States? 

Will  the}'  be  of  strategic  value  in  the  protection  of  our  interests  at 
home  and  in  the  eastern  world? 

Lastly,  can  we  abandon  them  with  safety  to  ourselves  and  with  justice 
to  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands? 

A  year  ago  the  American  people  would  have  considered  mad  any- 
one who  had  suggested  the  possibility  of  acquiring  territory  in  Asiatic 
waters.  So  fast  has  history  moved,  however,  that  to-day  hardly  a  citizen 
can  be  found  who  feels  assured  that  we  should  abandon  the  Philippines. 

Commercially  speaking,  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  Philippines 
would  be  of  vast  importance  to  the  United  States.  Including  1,400  sep- 
arate isles,  lying  almost  wholly  in  tropic  waters  ;  stretching  800  miles 
from  north  to  south  ;  occupying  more  territory  than  all  New  England, 
these  islands  are  a  vast  empire  in  themselves.  They  constitute  a  store  of 
tropical  and  mineral  wealth,  such  as  how  remains  unexploited  in  no  por- 
tion of  the  world.  These  islands  produce  spontaneously  and  almost  with- 
out cultivation,  nearly  every  single  object  of  necessity  and  luxury  which 


we  do  not  produce  ourselves.  They  produce  coffee,  sugar,  rice,  hemp 
gutta  percha,  cotton,  indigo  and  nearly  every  product  of  the  tropical  and 
semitropical  zones.  Notwithstanding  an  occupancy  of  400  years  Spain 
has  explored  only  a  small  portion  of  the  i^roup.  Tliese  islands  are  said 
to  contain  iron,  i^old  and  copper.  It  is  also  said  tliit  some  of  the  outly- 
ing islands  contriin  lart^e  de]50sits  of  coal.  vSucli  deposits,  if  existing',  are 
of  the  verv  highest  value.  Aside  from  New  South  A\'ales  and  some  half- 
worked  lodes  in  China  and  Tonquin,  there  is  little  or  no  coal  in  the  Far 
East.  Such  deposits  alone  would  be  justification  enough,  from  a  com- 
mercial point  of  view,  to  retain  these  islands. 

Notwithstanding  the  semibarbarous  government  of  the  Philippine 
islands,  which  has  hitherto  crushed  industry  with  all  manner  of  taxes 
and  extortions,  the  total  value  of  tlie  Philippine  exports  was  nearly  ^;>0,- 
000,000  in  1897.  As  showing  its  latent  possibilities,  il  may  l»e  said 
that  the  exports  of  the  one  small  island  of  Java,  near  at  hand,  amounted 
in  1897,  under  tlu;  wis2  rule  of  Holland,  to  225,000,000  guilders,  or 
!f;90,000,000. 

Yet  Java  is  no  richer  in  natural  resources,  and  is  only  one-half  as  large. 

THE  EASTERN  QUESTION. 

Turning  to  the  ])olitical  and  strategic  factors  connecled  with  the  Pliil- 
ippines,  we  are  confronted  with  Lhe  fact  that  the  ])o.ssessor  of  tlie  Philip- 
pine islands  to-day  holds  tlie  key  to  the  Eastern  (Juestiiui. 

Reared  in  almost  complete  ignorance  of  tlie  portentt)us  ])roblems  now 
jjressing  for  solution  in  the  I'Vir  Ka.st,  the  people  of  tlie  United  vStates  are 
not  only  plunged  into  this  vexed  and  perplexing  question,  but  its  final 
solution  is  thrust  unexpectedly  and  unceremoniously  into  our  hands. 

The  Eastern  Question  in  the  P'ar  East  as  well  as  in  the  West,  is  simply 
the  question  as  to  Avhich  of  the  European  powers  shall  ab.sorb  the  dying 
nat  ionalities  of  the  Orient.  The  past  three  hundred  years  in  Asia 
is  the  history  of  the  division  of  the  national  domain  of  the  Malay, 
Hindoo  and   Mongolian  races. 

The  Malays  andlli'.idoos  have  already  been  absorl)ed.  The  Mongo- 
lia n    alone   remain. 

Hitherto  the  superior  energies  and  colonizing  powers  of  P^ngland  have 
en  abled  her  to  acquire  the  lion's  share.  During  this  period  P'rance  has 
a  Iways  demanded  compensation  for  England's  gains,  while  Russia  has 
qu  ieth',  but  assiduously,  chipped  off  fragments  all  along  her  vast  frontiers, 
until  to-<lay  she  threatens  the  very  existence  of  the  INIongolian  empire- 
Spai  u,  in  her  shame  and    weakness,  has  i^laj-ed  no  jiart  in  this    cannibal- 


9 

istic  feast  for  some  two  hundred  years.  Xominall}-  possessing  the  richest 
colony  in  the  East,  she  has  only  remained  its  owner  because  the  other 
nations  could  decide  upon  no  amicable  division  of  her  colonial  domain. 

THE  ASIATIC  EQUILIBRIUM  UPSET. 

Thus  has  the  so-called  equilibrium  in  the  East  been  maintained  by  di- 
plomatic "Accessions"  and  "Compensations"  and  "Realms  of  Influence" 
till  the  fateful  day  when  Dewey  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet  in  Manilla 
bay.  When  the  diplomats  of  Europe  woke  on  May  4,  they  confronted 
the  fact  that  their  eastern  mosaic  had  been  broken  into  a  thousand  frag- 
ments. 

Not  alone  did  they  find  the  cherished  equilibrium  shattered,  upon 
which  they  had  expended  patient  generations  of  diplomacy.  They 
were  further  confronted  with  a  new  power  in  the  East,  whose  approach 
had  not  even  been  remotely  anticipated.  The  key  to  the  situation  had 
not  only  been  taken  from  their  grasp,  but  it  had  been  unconsciously 
taken  by  a  nation  whose  latent  strength  of  resistance  rendered  useless 
any  return  to  the  conditions  before  existing. 

Germany,  bitterly  disappointed  in  her  share  of  the  eastern 
spoils,  had  for  some  time  looked  upon  the  Philippines  for  "Com- 
pensation." During  the  preliminary  controversies  between  Spain 
and  the  I"nited  States,  Germany  had  ostentatiously  and  offensively 
sided  with  her  European  neighbor.  She  did  this  with  her  eye 
upon  the  Philippines.  Her  fleet  was  even  then  collected  in  eastern 
seas  ready  to  back  up  Spanish  claims  if  her  safety  and  self-interest 
might  so  dictate.  As  prudence  dictated  otherwise,  Germany  has 
abstained  thus  far  from  anything  more  than  a  display  of  ill  will  and  evil 
humor. 

As  for  Russia,  she  liad  ardently  desired  to  be  left  alone.  She  had  en- 
gulfed China  in  a  treaty  by  which  she  was  gradually  absorbing  all  Man- 
churia. Russia  only  desired  undisturbed  repose  during  the  process  of 
digestion.  By  a  clever  diplomacy  she  had  gradually  alienated  the  contin- 
ental nations  from  England  and  all  the  Continent  played  cat's  paw  at  the 
behest  of  St.  Petersburgh. 

Japan  still  chewed  the  cud  of  bitter  melancholy,  because  Russia  had 
seized  all  the  fruits  of  the  Japane.se  victory  in  1892.  Yet  Japan  was 
powerless  without  allies  to  prevent  the  gradual  absorption  of  China  by 
her  Russian  guest.  In  the  meantime,  England,  looking  vainly  for  sup- 
port, was  not  yet  prepared  to  beard  her  Russian  rival  in  the  Ea.st.  France, 
in  her  fond  hope  of  protection  against  Germany,  was  still  a  tool  of  Rus- 
sia and  a  mere  pawn  in  the  game  of  Russian  diplomacy. 


10 

It  was  at  this  point  that  English  prestige  reached  its  nadir,  and  that 
Russian  progress  seemed  destined  to  make  all  China  a  Russian  province. 

The  battle  of  ^Manilla  cluinged  history  in  a  night.  An  Anglo-Saxon 
nation,  with  strong  but  undeveloped  ideas  as  to  the  duties  of  its  race,  has 
seized  the  ke}'.  The  projected  absorption  and  partition  of  the  Chinese 
empire  became  an  impossibility  at  once. 

STRATEGIC   STRENGTH  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES. 

While  it  is  difficult  for  our  people  to  realize  that  the  seizure  of  these 
islands  involve  such  vast  interests  in  the  East,  a  brief  glance  at  the  map 
will  show  the  point  at  once. 

The  archipelago  of  the  Philij^piues  confr(jnls  the  coast  of  Asia  for 
nearly  800  miles. 

It  commands  the  coast  of  China,  Tonijuin,  Cochin  China  and  .\nnam, 
the  Mala}'  peninsula  and  the  Polynesian  isles. 

Manilla  is  only  700  miles,  or  thirty-six  hours  from  the  English  i)ort  of 
Hongkong.  This  is  the  port  of  the  great  city  of  Canton,  and  the  outlet 
of  the  richest  portion  of  the  Chinese  empire. 

All  the  vast  commerce  of  the  Far  East  with  Europe  passes  between 
Manilla  and  the  port  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  kindred  at  Hongkong. 

The  Pliilippines  are  but  a  thousand  miles  from  Japan,  and  this  is  no 
distance  in  the  vast  waste  of  the  Asiatic  seas. 

The  largest  portion  of  the  connneice  of  America  with  India,  .Singapore, 
Runnah,  passes  through  these  seas,  and  is  commanded  by  our  new  acqui- 
sition. 

In  fact,  Manilla  is  tlie  one  mid-point  in  the  east  where  all  the 
great  lines  of  ocean  traffic  are  held  in  sure  command.  The  geometrical 
center  of  a  vast  circle,  it  is  almost  equi-distant  from  Peking,  Tokio  and 
Singapore. 

It  is  the  only  available  point  in  the  east  where  France,  Rus- 
sia or  Germany  could  have  obtained  desirable  coaling  and  commercial 
stations  without  a  struggle.  It  will  l)e  seen,  therefore,  that  our  position 
in  the  Philippines  is  fraught  with  possibilities  that  we  have  liardly  com- 
menced to  grasp. 

THE  DESPOILING  OF  CHINA. 

Yet  another  question  of  the  greatest  moment  interjects  itself.  This 
touches  upon  the  future  of  the  Chinese  empire. 

Absorbed  in  our  own  affairs  we  have  hitherto  remained  oblivious  to  the 
fact  that  we  have  neglected  the  greatest  and  most  profitable  markets  of 
the  world.      One  by  one,  great  fragments  of  the  East  have  been  torn  off 


11 

by  foreign  powers  and  shut  to  our  legitimate  commerce.  Without  a  pro- 
test we  have  seen  our  commercial  treaties  violated,  and  have  been  ousted 
from  our  legitimate  traffic  in  the  East.  Contented  with  our  own  and 
European  markets,  we  have  apparently  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  mar- 
kets of  300,000,000  people  are  all  but  finally  closed  to  the  enterprise 
and  energy  of  our  people. 

Now  that  Chance  or  Destiu}'  has  placed  us  in  command  of  the  situation, 
what  do  we  propose  to  do  about  it? 

Shall  we  abandon  this  vantage  placed  unconscioush-  in  our  grasp,  or 
shall  we  make  intelligent  use  of  the  great  Godsend  which  has  been 
thrust  upon  us? 

Shall  we,  by  the  abandonment  of  the  Philippines  permit  the  gradual 
dismemberment  of  China  among  European  powers,  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  our  Chinese  trade;  or  shall  we  demand  that  this  rich  field  be  left 
open  to  the  legitimate  trade  of  all  alike? 

WE  MUST  HOLD  THIS  KEY. 

Regardless  of  the  perplexing  details  of  this  problem,  can  the  patriotic 
American  citizen  hesitate  for  one  moment  in  his  decision? 

The  Philippines  are  ours  by  the  right  of  war,  to  which  civilized  Europe 
gives  consent.  The}'  are  ours  by  the  higher  law  that  has  thus  given  a 
helpless  and  wickedh*  governed  people  into  our  hands  Our  flag  now 
waves  above  the  Philippines.  In  the  interest  of  humanity  and  of  enlight- 
ened self-interest,  there  should  it  remain  until  someone  prove  strong 
enough  to  pull  it  down. 

While  the  retention  of  these  islands  is  filled  with  vexed  problems, 
these  are  nothing  as  compared  with  the  momentous  evils  that  would  fol- 
low the  abandonment  of  the  islands. 

What  of  the  alternative  ? 

If  we  do  not  take  them,  who  will  ? 

We  could  not  abandon  them  to  England  or  sell  them  to  any  other  na- 
tion without  universal  war. 

If  the  United  States  does  not  retain  the  Philipines  they  must  go  back 
to  the  insurgents.  Were  we  now  to  leave  them,  their  condition  would  be 
even  more  lamentable  than  under  the  corrupting  rule  of  Spain. 

New  England  senators  may  compare  the  mercenary  Aguinaldo  to  Wash- 
ington and  Bolivar.  They  may  continue  to  offer  moral  support  against 
our  arms  and  fleets.  The  people  of  the  United  States  however  will  not 
believe  that  the  man  who  has  counseled  wholesale  slaughter  of  all  for- 
eigners on  the  island  is  a  patriot  nor  a  statesman,  nor  qualified  to  erect 
an   independent   government. 


12 

Neither  will  they  surrender  into  the  hands  of  Mala}-  bowmen  the  lives  of 
thousands  of  innocent  Spanish  people  nor  the  millions  of  property  whose 
security  is  dependent  upon  civilized  and  enlightened  government. 

If  we  are  afraid  to  take  the  Responsibility,  will  History  ever  justify  us 
in  destroying  the  only  system  of  Government  these  islands  possessed  and 
then  abandoning  them  to  the  anarchy  that  must  follow  native  attempts 
to  govern? 

Whether  it  be  called  Annexation,  Autonomy  or  a  Protectorate,  the  fu- 
ture of  all  these  islands  must  be  Anglo-Saxon  —not  Latin  nor  IMalay  nor 
Japanese. 

While  the  natives  of  these  islands  will  be  given  Liberty  it  must  be  Lib- 
erty on  Anglo-Saxon  lines.  It  will  never  be  the  License  under  which  the 
Spanish-American  Republics  have  mocked  Republican  Government  for 
three-quarters  of  a  century  past. 

HOLD  ALL  THE  ISLANDS. 

Do  not  all  the  arguments  in  favor  of  holding  Manilla  as  a  coaling  sta- 
tion apply  equally  well  to  the  island  of  Luzon  and  the  balance  of  the 
group  ? 

Furthermoie,  will  there  not  be  much  less  friction  with  foreign  powers 
if  we  at  once  take  over  the  whole  group  as  a  legitimate  spoil  of  war?  Nor 
is  there  any  danger  that  the  alleged  "powers"  will  actively  interfere  if 
we  boldly  and  courageously  stand  by  our  lights.  All  of  them  have  too 
many  troubles  of  their  own  to  actively  antagonize  the  rising  giant  of  the 
west,  right  on  the  threshold  of  his  recent  victory. 

There  may  be  diplomatic  threats  and  murmurs,  but  no  nation  is  in 
shape  to  actively  resist  the  United  States.  Even  if  they  do,  the  fleets  of 
Japan  and  England  are  both  at  our  command,  and  with  this  combination 
we  control  the  world. 

THE  RUSSIAN   PERIL. 

Nor  from  a  larger  historical  view,  should  our  people  overlook  the  fact 
that  any  action  regarding  the  Philipines  will  alTect  for  good  or  evil  the 
whole  future  history  of  Democratic  Government  and  the  Anglo-vSaxon 
race. 

One  hundred  years  ago  Napoleon  shrewdly  remarked  that  the  next 
century  would  see  the  world  Cossack  or  Republican. 

Since  that  day  the  colossal  development  of  the  Russian  empire  has 
threatened  to  engulf  the  entire  Eastern  world  in  its  onward  jjrogress. 
The  Latin  race,  now  in  decay,  has  ceased  to  play  any  material  part  in  the 


13 

history  of  the  world.     The  next  century   must  develop  the  supremacy  of 
the  Germanic  or  Slavonic  race. 

There  is  no  room  for  compromise. 

The  Civilization  of  America  and  Europe  and  the  Germanic  race,  or  the 
Civilization  of  Asia  and  the  Slav  must  finall}-  survive. 

While  we  please  ourselves  with  nursery  traditions  regarding  the  an- 
cient friendship  of  Russia  for  the  United  States,  it  were  little  less  than 
idiocy  to  believe  that  there  can  be  an}'  common  unity  Ijetween  the  ex- 
treme Despotism  and  the  extreme   Democracy  of  the  age. 

Russia  represents  ignorance,  l)igotr3'  and  slavery  of  mankind.  She  has 
placed  her  foot  upon  every  germ  that  makes  towards  progress  and  individ- 
ual freedom.  She  is  diametrically  opposed  to  ev-er}-  cherished  theory  tliat 
the  Germanic  peoples  hold  regarding  Politics,  Religion  or  the  Law.  She 
is  the  one  great,  inexorable,  portentous  enemy  of  modern  progress  and 
the  Germanic  race. 

Having  absorbed  China,  with  300,000,000  people  at  her  command, 
what  will  then  become  of  Europe  ? 

It  will  be  Asiatic  and  not  Germanic. 

And  after  Europe,  what  of  America  and  the  future  of  Eree  Government 
in  the  world?' 

A  REAL  PERIL. 

It  is  difficult  to  impress  upon  Americans  living  in  the  security  of  their 
virgin  land  that  they  owe  exact  and  certain  duties  to  the  future  of  Democ- 
rac}'  and  Civilization.  History  is  but  a  story  of  the  survival  of  the  races 
and  race  ideas.     Why  should  future  history  differ  from  the  past? 

If  for  no  other  reason,  we  should  hold  the  Philippines  intact  to  estab- 
lish a  permanent  and  impregnable  barrier  to  the  progress  of  Asiatic  civ- 
ilization in  the  world.  England  will  shortly  have  to  fight  a  decisive  bat- 
tle for  the  existence  of  European  civilization  in  the  East.  While  we  need 
not  become  involved  in  actual  war,  we  .should  give  her  all  the  moral  as- 
sistance in  our  power. 

This  can  be  done  in  no  better  way  than  by  holding  the  key  to  the  East, 
which  in  other  hands  might  be  betraj'ed  into  the  enemy  of  our  race  and 
culture. 

VOICE  OF  THE  WEST. 

We,  as  a  nation,  ha\-e  never  yet  failed  to  rise  to  the  full  compass  and 
greatness  demanded  by  the  destiny  of  our  race. 

Why  should  we  fail  in  this? 

We  will  not  fail.  We  are  not  a  race  that  fails.  Our  forefathers  en- 
countered much  vaster  problems  in  the  past,  and  shall  we  say  that  we  are 


14 

unworthy  to  follow  in  their  footsteps?  Shall  we  shrink  ignoble  from  the 
path  plainly  blazed  out  before  us  by  our  Destin\-,  and  by  our  duties  to- 
wards the  human  race  ? 

While  some  closet  thinkers  of  the  Eastern  coast  may  shrink  with  fear 
from  these  new  problems,  there  is  no  apprehension  for  our  future  among 
the  50,000,000  people  who  fill  the  vast  realm  between  the  AUeghenies 
and  the  Pacific  coast.  The  people  who  have  wickedly  "expanded"  into 
the  ^Mississippi  valley,  and  have  turned  the  Louisiana  purchase,  the  Mex- 
ican Cession  and  the  Oregons  into  the  granary  of  the  world  are  not  per- 
plexed with  the  intellectual  fantasies  which  paralize  the  overcultured  in- 
tellect of  the  East. 

Their  thoughts  and  aspirations  are  American  and  not  European. 

From  the  first  the)'  believed  fervently  and  ardently  in  the  full  right- 
eousness of  the  war  which  has  destroyed  the  last  lingering  tyranny 
of  Spain  in  two  (|uarters  of  the  globe.  Breathing  the  pure  air  of 
mountain  ranges,  vast  plains  and  prairie  lands,  their  convictions  are  a 
product  of  honest  toil  in  forests  and  in  field.  They  are  not  impregnated 
with  those  purely  conmiercial  considerations  which  have  so  often  be- 
numbed the  natural  humanit}'  of  the  East.  The  people  of  the  West, 
whose  soldiery  have  born  the  brunt  of  the  recent  contest,  both  in  Cuba 
and  the  Philippines  do  not  propose  that  the  Ijlood  of  their  sons  shall 
have  been  shed  in  vain. 

They  do  not  propose  that  these  two  wars  shall  have  been  fought  with- 
out a  distinct  and  permanent  gain  to  the  cause  of  real  Liberty  and  Good 
Government  in  this  world. 

The  people  of  the  western  empire  do  not  not  propose  to  surrender  back 
to  barbarism  a  single  foot  of  territory  once  reclaimed  from  bigotry  and 
misgovernment. 

Where  American  blood  has  once  been  shed  and  the  American  flag  has 
once  been  raised,  there  they  believe  it  should  stay  in  spite  of  all  the 
world. 

Today  the  seat  of  empire  resides  not  upon  the  .Atlantic  coast,  but  far 
inland,  where  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries  wander  towards  the 
sea. 

The  West  has  not  lived  down  the  great  migratory  and  civilizing  in 
stincts  inherent  in  its  blood.  It  voices  these  instincts  in  no  uncertain 
terms.  It  does  not  fear  the  Future.  Where  the  clear  Destiny  of  the 
Race  and  Nation  points,  it  does  not  fear  to  follow. 

Minneapolis,  Minn.,  March  1,  1899.  W.  D.  W.A.SHm-RN,  Jr. 


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